Eats

Description: Applejack reveals that she is working too hard.
Note 1: This is my longest chapter, and contain plot points for future chapters.
Note 2: Part of what you are about to read was inspired by Gold - http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Gold.

“Bacon and chili on mine. With hot sauce. Spicy hot sauce. If it doesn’t come with the risk of spontaneously combusting, it’s not spicy enough.” Rainbow rubbed her hands together in anticipating as the diner waiter took down her order.

“I’ll take the same!” Scootaloo smiled.

“I like your style squirt.” Rainbow gave Scoots another pat on the shoulder. It sent her to nirvana for a moment.

“Ah suppose I’ll be havin’ the...uhh...the apple pie.” Applejack sighed, realizing that Rainbow’s previous assumptions were correct.

“With all the fixin’s, right deary?” Rainbow mocked her.

“Never you mind. At least it’s got something natural in it.”

“Um...salad please. No dressing.” Fluttershy said softly.

“Don’t you get tired of eating like a rabbit?” Rainbow asked Fluttershy.

“Don’t you never get tired of eatin’ like a pig.” Applejack asked Rainbow.

How were these three friends?

“I don’t eat like a pig.” Rainbow said, “Not all the time. I’m just celebrating, since we won. I think I deserve a burger.”

“Double-decker with four different cheeses and chili and what’not is not a celebratory meal.” Applejack complained.

“Um...what would you like young man?” The waiter asked me.

“I’ll just have the soup of the day. And some tea.”

“Pfft. You like tea?” Rainbow scoffed.

“It’s okay. I like it more than coffee.”

“Sounds like Rarity got to this one too. Next he’ll be swimming in gossip and admiring fashion.”

“Dashie, leave Rarity alone. She ain’t even here to defend herself.” Applejack sounded like she was losing her patience.

“Oh, forgive me darling…” Rainbow Dash mimicked Rarity’s high class accent. “…I should have been more considerate. After all, a Lady does not engage in pitter-patter behind people’s backs. That is something roughians like Rainbow Dash and that Apple girl from the south does.”

“Stop it!” Applejack’s raised her voice. The waiter scurried off.

“…you alright AJ?” I asked her.

“Ah’m fine!” Applejack crossed her arms and tried to ignore Dash.

“Are you sure?” Rainbow smiled. “You’re not sore because the dynamic duo beat you?”

“Yeah! The Dynamic Duo!” Scootaloo cheered again.

“Um...i-if she says she is fine...” Fluttershy started to say something, but Applejack interrupted her.

“Enough with all the insults. That actually is unladylike.”

“Ooooh. Excuuuse me madam Jack,” Rainbow kept making fun of Rarity, “I was not aware that we were in the presence of royalty. How can this filthy peasant apologize? I don’t want my head chopped off.”

“Knock it off!” Applejack sounded mad this time. Like, legitimately mad. But Rainbow of course did not pick up on the subtle changes in Applejack’s tone or her body.

“Are you sure nothing is bothering you Applejack?” I inquired again.

“Leave her alone Newbie. She’s just being a sore loser.”

“Ah don’t give a hoot about the game! I am sick and tired of …I’m…I’m tired is all.” AJ almost slammed her fist on the table. Her forehead crinkled. Rainbow Dash finally took the hint and stifled herself. “Ah...Ah need some air.” AJ left us, looking as stressed as I had ever seen her. She was so flustered that she left without her hat.

“What was that about?” I asked everyone.

“Beats me.” Rainbow shrugged.“She’s usually stubborn but not...angry.”

“Like you said. She’s just being a sore loser.” Scootaloo smiled widely.

I saw AJ through the glass window, rubbing her temples.

“I’m gonna go see what’s wrong.” I stood up out of my chair.

“I’ll bet you ten Bits that she uses an apple metaphor to describe how she is feeling.” Rainbow winked.

“Seriously, you’re not helping right now.”

Protag: “Are you okay?” I asked Applejack as I sat down next to her on the steps of the diner.

“I’ve...been better.” She sounded tired.

“I know Dash is a pain. But she was just fooling around. I think. She doesn’t know when to quit, that’s all.”

“Boy-hoowdy. That’s fur sure. Ah didn’t mean to snap back there. Ah just...been a bit extra stressed this week. And Dashie ain’t helpin’.”

“What’s wrong?”

“...it ain’t nothing I can’t handle.”

“What is?”

“Ah...” Applejack gulped loudly and closed her eyes, like every bone in her body wanted to vent but her pride tried to stop her. “Ah...”

“You can tell me. I don’t mind. I’m a good listener.” She gulped again, and let it all out at once…

“Ah’ve never been so stressed out in mah life! I haffta wake up at five, which ain’t so bad cause I used ta do that on the farm, but my family ain’t here to help no more neither! Ever since Big Mac went back home, it’s been harder and harder! And I just barely make it to class in the mornin’ and no one is there ta take up the shop when I’m gone so I haffta run back there during mah lunch break some times and I barely eat then and then ah haffta run back to class again, then back to the store and work more but Granny Smitth says the bills keep on pilin’ up too and ah just barely make enough money ta take care of mahself and…and…and ah needs a vacation.” She sat down on the cold stone steps with a thud. She looked like she was ready to pass out. “Ah went and played with ya’ll ah needed to burn off some steam. But it didn’t help much.”

“Is...there anything I can do?” Not knowing what else to do, I patted her back. She leaned her head on my shoulder.

“Listen’n is plenty, I tell you wut. But just promise me somethin’?” Applejack rubbed the soft spots under her eyes, then shook her head.

“Sure AJ. What is it?

“Don’t be tellin’ Dashie that ah went and got stressed. Just don’t. Fur me, alright?”

“Uh…yeah, I promise. But why not? She is your friend. Why keep it a secret?”

“Cause ah don’t want her flippin’ out and doin’ something crazy like she always does. Ah can handles this myself. Ah need a nap and maybe some choolates…and don’t be tellin’ her I eats chocolates neither.”

“My lips are sealed.”

When I first met Applejack, I got a sense that she was the kind of girl who carried weight of the world on her shoulders. That initial assessment had yet to be disproven.

But apparently she was also the kind who refused to let anyone help her, even when she desperately needed it. And she did need it. Her determination (or stubbornness?) was admirable, but the poor girl was at her wits end. It must have been hard for her to admit that.

“Shhh…” I heard someone whisper. I looked behind us, at the window next to our booth. Rainbow Dash was peeking through the partially opened screen, he face filled with concern.

“I won’t tell Rainbow Dash. I promise” I gestured RD to close the window, which she did quietly.

“Thank you.” I patted Applejack’s shoulder.

“But you don’t have to be afraid to tell us those things. We’re your friends. That’s what we’re-”

“Afraid. Ha! Now that’s a cute one. It ain’t bout fear or nothin’. It’s about...it’s about doing what needs ta be done. It’s work. It’s being responsible. Ah ain’t about ta act like mah problems are that much worse than everyone else’s just cause ah’m having a bad day. Or a bad month. Or two.”

“Applejack...”

“AJ is fine.”

“AJ. Right. AJ…no one is saying you’re not a hard worker. Or that you are an irresponsible one. But you haven’t even finished school yet. Don’t you think that is more important? Don’t you think this might be…a bit too much for one person.”

“Excuse me Mister, but this ain’t no ordinary person you’re talkin to.”

“I know, but it’s still just one person. Dash would never agree with me, but it’s okay to admit when you’ve bitten off more than you can chew.” I preached and Applejack listened. “Giving up is not the same thing as knowing when to call it quits.”

It seemed that Applejack did not enjoyed what I said, but also couldn’t argue with it. What she wanted and what her body needed were in conflict. She was tired. And still so proud.

“How about we go inside and relax? That food would probably hit the spot right now.”

Applejack sighed again. Then nodded.

The three other girls sat in silence, all worried in their own way.

“What’s all the long faces fur?” Applejack’s smile popped back in place, acting like nothing was wrong.
“Don’t tell me ya’ll are worried bout me just cause I’m sore bout losin’ the game.”

“Are...you sure you’re alright?” Fluttershy broke the awkward silence among them.

“Of course Sugar-cube. Peachy. As happy as a hungry worm on apple harvest day.”

“Ha! An apple metaphor. Rainbow Dash wins again!” Scootaloo thought it was funny. Rainbow didn’t react. Her violet eyes were heavy. And her usually sly grin...gone.

“Dashie. Ya’ll alright?”

“Hmm? O-oh yeah…” Rainbow Dash sighed softly.

“That’s it? No comeback? No snarky remark?”

“…I got nothing. Maybe I’ll think of something after I eat.”

Applejack shrugged, sat down, and spoke to Scootaloo and Fluttershy like nothing had happened. It looked like those two bought AJ’s act.

But Dash stared out the window, as she usually did when lost in thought.

“...wonder how long till the food gets here? I could eat a horse. Woo-nelly.”

“Tell me about it.” Scootaloo said. “Nothing like a good game to work up an appetite. Right Dash?”

“….mm…” Dash grunted with out looking at Scootaloo.

“So Scoots, what classes do yah have this year?” Applejack tried to change the subject.

“I’m taking Literature and Biology and intro to Math.”

“That sounds interestin’.” Applejack glanced at Rainbow Dash briefly. “One minute. Ah gotta go to the little girls room. If the food gets here, start without me.”

“Um...I’ll...go with youy.” Fluttershy got up and followed Applejack. Why do girls always go to the bathroom together?

When they both had gone, Rainbow finally looked away from the window.

“You okay? I ask her. Instead of answering me, Rainbow Dash grabbed AJ’s brown leather handbag and pulled out her purse. “What are you doing?”

Rainbow pulled a few crumpled bills out of her own pocket and shoved them into AJ’s wallet. Then she put everything back where it was and crossed her arms.

“Neither of you say a word.” Rainbow Dash ordered us.

“Dash...”

“Not. A. Word.”

A pain in the ass tomboy, a rude headache…and every now and then, a saint.

---times passes---

“That was so good pie.” Applejack sucked on the prongs of her fork. “All sweet and warm. But Granny Smith still makes it better.”

“That burger ruled.” Rainbow Dash cleaned her teeth out with her fingernail.

“Ah still don’t sees how yah can shove all that grease in your mouth.”

“Burgers don’t have grease. That’s concentrated flavor in liquid form.”

Applejack: “Tell that to your arteries.”

“I will. I’ll let them know that I’m eighteen and could have a heart attack any day now.”

“Ya never know.” Applejack took out her purse to pay for her portion of the meal. “It’d be better to cut that greasy stuff out now a’fore it becomes a real problem. That’s…”Applejack stared into her purse, speechless for a second. Then she looked at Rainbow Dash crossly.

“That’s…what?”

Applejack pulled out the crumpled bills Rainbow had put in and laid them on the table. “Ya know, funniest thing…ah fergot what ah was gonna say.”

Playing dumb, Rainbow shrugged drank the last drops of her soda.

Thirty minutes later, we were back on campus and ready to call it a night. The sun was almost gone. I heard crickets talk to each other.

“I’ll see you later! Thanks for paying for me.” Scootaloo awkwardly shook Rainbow Dash’s hand.

“For the sixth time Squirt, you’re welcome.”

“I’ll pay you back. Scout’s honor.”

“You’re not even a scout.”

“Um…Scoot’s honor?”

“Oh god! Whatever. I’ll put it on your tab.”

“A...tab? I have a tab?!”

“It’s just an expression! Don’t worry about it!”

“Yes ma’am. I mean, no ma’am. I mean...I won’t. Uh, bye!” Scootaloo ran away before the rest of us could say goodbye back.

“Hmph” Applejack grunted at Rainbow Dash. “It must be nice to not haffta worry ‘bout paying someone back money they owe, right Dashe?”

“Yeah. I’m cool like that.”

“Of course you are.” Applejack looked angrily at Rainbow again, and Rainbow Dashie was either totally oblivious to it or acted like that way. AJ’s phone buzzed in her pocket. When she checked the caller, she sighed loudly. “No rest fur the weary. I haffta go.”

“Sure. Later.” Rainbow waved AJ away.

“Bye__” She smiled at me. “ And thanks.”

“No problem.” I said kindly.

Applejack left. When she thought she was out of our sights, she started running. Rainbow Dash stared as she left. He foot bounced up and down. I could tell she was trying not to show emotions.

“Poor Applejack.” Fluttershy looked sad. “I hope everything works out for her.”

“She’ll be fine. AJ is too stubborn to just give up.” Rainbow Dash tried to reassure us.

“Yeah, just like you.” I teased.“You two would make a great couple.”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Like I have never heard that insinuation before. Reeeally original Newbie.”

“Insinuation?”

“Yeah. It’s the word-of-the-day on my word-of-the-day calendar. So what?”

“Oh no!” Fluttershy’s timid voice sprang up a few decibels. “Angel! I forgot to feed Angel! He’s going to be sooo mad at me. Last time I forgot to feed him, he didn’t speak to me for a week.”

“The rabbit didn’t speak to you for a week?” I asked. Fluttershy ran off without saying another word.

“Jesus.” Rainbow Dash stretched her arms. “Between Applejack’s problems, Fluttershy’s weird obsession with furry things, and Scootaloo being…Scootaloo, I’m starting to think I’m the last girl in this school with a normal life.”

“Modest observation, Egghead.”

“Oh my god! DON’T call me that!”

“Well, you like reading and-”

“I do not like reading!”

“I’m just kidding. What, you can poke fun at everyone but I can’t poke fun at you?”

Yes! That is exactly how it works!”

“Dashie, come on. It’s no big deal. It’s just a book.”

“This topic is closed!”

“Closed like a book?”

“Shut up!”

“Fine. Fine.” I had annoyed her. And I was proud of it. “I am going be up late trying to get my homework done.” I kicked a pebble at my feet.

“There you go again. We just had a good day with friends, playing games, and you still want to talk about work?”

“Well…I don’t want to…but, I still have to do it.”

“Of course you do. But why dwell on it? What good will that do?”

“What good will avoiding work do?”

“I’m not hanging out with my friends because I am trying to avoid work. I do it because they are more important to me. Waaay more important than algebra.”

“Okay, I agree with you there. But still, do you see where I am coming from with my points?”

“Not really. Later Newbie!” She left before our teasing turned into an argument. And, though I knew better, I teased her into starting one. This whole day was immature for me. Since I met Rainbow Dash, I was changing slightly. I wasn’t like the old me and I knew it.

And I kind of like it.

The sun was gone by the time I got back to my room. I was still wearing the sweat pants RD gave me. I wasn’t sure if she meant for me to keep them but what was she going to use them for anyway

My cell phone buzzed.

“Hello?”

“Where have you been!?” Twilight screamed when I answer. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I checked the library and around campus and the library again!”

“Twilight, calm down. What’s wrong?”

What’s wrong is that you were supposed to study today and I couldn’t find you. You went missing and didn’t answer your phone.”

I left my phone in my other pants! I didn’t hear it go off when I was playing basketball, and didn’t think to check it when I was eating.

“Oops. Sorry, I just didn’t hear my phone go off.”

“What were you doing? Where did you go?” She sounded more worried then angry.

“Rainbow…um…” Hmm, how to handle this? How do I tell Twilight that I ditched the session to play games? She’d kill me, or at least flip out over it for the rest of the month and never let me forget it. “Rainbow Dash got kicked out of the library. So we went to study in her room.”

Part of that was true. But I didn’t hear a response.

“Twilight? Hello?”

“…in her room?”

“Oh, you’re still there. I thought the call dropped. But yeah. We moved the study session into her room.”

“…and…you didn’t hear my phone go off?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, total accident.”

“…you were studying…and you didn’t hear me call you. Right?”

“Right. I’m really sorry.”

I heard a strange noise on her end, a whimper mixed with a scoffing sound. “Okay. I mean, that makes sense. I guess…I guess I overreacted and…” Another whimpering noise came up. “…I’ll see you tomorrow. I hope.”

“Sure! I’ll walk you to homeroom, as always.”

“…okay.” She hung up.

My phone buzzed again. It said I had 38 missed calls!? No wonder Twilight was so worried.

I pulled out the assignment that I figured would take the longest and got started on it.

Author's Note

I don't know why I love writing stories about girl's getting their hearts broken, but I freaking love it man.